JD Hartman

No to the paracord. Essentially "clothesline", #6 or #8, two lines on an 8x8. Do you have enough "hands" to keep an overhead frame safe in winds? Unlikely that you going to: find things to tie it down to; have enough sandbag to make up for a lack of Grips; be able to drive anchor spikes in an urban environment.

An RC servo arm.

You want one of these: https://www.tlxtech.com/understanding-solenoids/theory-operation/latching-solenoid-theory/

When you win a judgement, how do you actually collect?

Or Silicosis: http://www.lung.org/lung-health-and-diseases/lung-disease-lookup/silicosis/silicosis-symptoms-causes-risk.html

When Fullers Earth is inhaled in dust form it's a potential lung hazard. The issue being that although a clay product, it may contain some silica. How much silica is enough to create long term issues? I don't know. Can't find the reference, but I recall reading that Fullers Earth was banned on Sag shoots. MSDS: http://www.sciencelab.com/msds.php?msdsId=9924104 See: https://www.csatf.org/pdf/ifs_dust.pdf https://www.csatf.org/pdf/10ARTIFICIAL_SMOKE.pdf

There's always FleaBay.

Time to settle this dispute before it escalated further. Time for Thunderdome:

Nice build. Some way to skirt the end of the panel would be useful. Some type of clip to hold a piece of black Coroplast would be nice.

This is like bear-baiting: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bear-baiting Why do you do this?

I'd have to agree with Adrian, 25 and 50' stingers will be the bulk of what you use. When you to 100', you start to exceed acceptable voltage drop at anything over 15A. As far as the 10' stingers, nice to have if you are shooting a lot in cube farms, but you can always rent those as needed. As far as buy vs. make you own, if you're not a total bungler with tools and shop carefully, you can easily beat the "retail" price on the materials. Look on Fleabay for caps and bodies, look on Craigslist and estate sales for an electrical contractor going out of business or swap meets and buy mostly full spools of 12/3 cordage. Your time?? Make them while watching TV.

True, if you want to be a certified pipeline or pressure vessel welder, but a person, well versed in several welding processes will find work in many industries. Certifications are something you get (testing costs $$$) when you current employer pays for them.

As I recall the clamp on cable marker and rope holders were about $10 each, great for feeder cables worth hundreds of dollars. Anyway you could try: http://www.so-calvalueadded.com/cable-holder.shtml I use a simple label under clear self adhesive shrink tubing (so does Lex for cables they manufacture).

Lex: http://www.lexproducts.com/

IMHO they are overkill for stingers and not cheap either. I find tying a constrictor knot with long tails sufficient. Anyway, I don't have a direct source for them but Lex carries them, maybe try the MCMaster-Carr website.

You don't provide a geographic location, but in the Northeast, I'd use Rose Brand: http://www.rosebrand.com/ See this section: http://www.rosebrand.com/

Great advice in the previous post.

Bruce has made some good suggestions. Building a two wall set would be easier than trying to shoot in that room. What about dressing a much larger room as the bedroom? Paint is cheap.

If ENG is going to be your chosen gig, the best thing to do is quickly become acquainted with the police departments you are likely to find on the scene. My nephew worked news in N. New Jersey for many years and the local police, Sheriff's deputies, etc., always kept him out of harms way. It's also possible to own your own protective gear, even "cheap" body armor can mean the difference between a serious wound and a fatal one.

If you employ Mark's advice (good advice!) be sure to wet down the sidewalk and road,it will help reflect some of the light back up and onto your talent.

in Brazil. The backdrop hides the industrial wasteland behind it.

One must realize, Mr. Harrison, that this board is not the equivalent of "Ask Jeeves".

Did anyone read the first line in Phil's post? "....no money." Well, at least Miguel did. Just throwing it out there, while more power hungry, HMIs will be cheaper to rent than Skypanels.

Riser casting usually have a brass or other soft metal metal brake shoe. Really nothing to go bad there. Surface corrosion in the plating pr the riser tubes can be removed with a fine Scotchbrite pad and WD40. You can substitute crumpled aluminum for foil or old blackwrap for the Scotchbrite pad. Check the riser tubes and legs for dents, these will become a possible point of failure in the stand.